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Overview

In the development of vertebrate animals, the pharyngeal arches (also called branchial arches or gill arches in fish) develop during the fourth and fifth week in utero as a series of mesodermal outpouchings on the left and right sides of the developing pharynx. In fish, the branchial arches give rise to gills.

Development

These grow and join in the ventral midline. The first arch, as the first to form, separates the mouth pit or stomodeum from the pericardium. By differential growth the neck elongates and new arches form, so the pharynx has six arches ultimately.

Each pharyngeal arch has a cartilaginous bar, a muscle component which differentiates from the cartilagenous tissue, an artery, and a cranial nerve.
Each of these is surrounded by Mesenchyme. Arches do not develop simultaneously, but instead possess a "staggered" development.

Specific arches

There are six pharyngeal arches, but in humans the fifth arch only exists transiently during embryologic growth and development. Since no human structures result from the fifth arch, the arches in humans are I, II, III, IV, and VI. [2]

More is known about the fate of the first arch than the remaining four. The first three contribute to structures above the larynx, while the last two contribute to the larynx and trachea.